


Pride

by Luka



Series: We're a Team [10]
Category: Rugby RPF, Rugby Union RPF
Genre: Coming Out, Established Relationship, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 06:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19785268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luka/pseuds/Luka
Summary: It's the first England training camp, and Owen, who's still on his statutory five-week break, wants to be there with George. And in the run-up to London Pride weekend, the BBC are keen to interview them.





	Pride

**Author's Note:**

> This is the latest instalment in my series that tries to explore what might happen if two international rugby stars came out. A reminder, too, that I've hijacked characters for my own nefarious ends - it's fiction! And here's a warning for much cussing ...
> 
> This story takes place towards the end of the first England training camp and into the week before London Pride.

Owen lay on his back and watched the sliver of light play across the ceiling from where he hadn't drawn the curtains properly. George would have been out of bed in an instant to remedy this.

After an idyllic three weeks together, he was missing George like hell - the casual chatting, the shared humour and just being close to each other. He'd never believed all that soulmate shit until he'd realised on his first Lions tour just what George meant to him. Friends were still ripping the piss out of him about the holiday – Jamie had pointed out earlier that day that he looked insufferably smug on his social media photos after three weeks of sun, sea and sex. Owen decided not to tell him how accurate that summary was.

And he was bored. There was a limit to how often he wanted to go to the golf driving range, or to have coffee with the lads and listen to the same bitching and gossiping. He knew perfectly well why the five-week statutory break was vital. He was going to the gym just as often, if not more - but missed being out on the pitch training and playing matches.

He'd spent a few days over in Ireland with his parents, but hadn't been able to relax. He and the dog must have walked miles to the extent that the poor hound started to look nervous whenever Owen entered the room. And his usually tolerant mother had got fed up with non-stop World Cup conversation at the meal table, and had banished him and his dad down to the pub to bore the regulars with their minute analysis of the tournament contenders. Eventually the landlord had complained that he now knew more about the relative merits of the Georgian and Russian packs than he needed to.

Absentmindedly Owen traced his fingers over the photo on Jonny's Instagram feed. He'd have recognised George's hand anywhere - small, but not in the least feminine, with callouses from years of catching rugby balls. Then, like picking at a scab, he found his eyes drawn yet again to the photo that JJ had sent him about ten minutes earlier. It was of George getting ready for bed, his back to the camera. There was no mistaking the heavy bruising developing across his back and down his right side. Owen would have bet anything that George didn't know that JJ had taken the photo.

His phone rang. He glanced at the screen and swore. It was bloody tempting to let it go to voicemail, especially given who was calling and that it was nearly 11pm. He was pretty sure the call wouldn't be a matter of life and death. But he didn't want any more shit kicking off.

"Hey, big fella."

"Hey, Faz. You OK?"

"Yeah, good, thanks."

"I know it's late, but …"

There was a silence and Owen knew he could wait most people out. Then Courtney said: "I didn't do it on purpose."

More silence. There were a number of things Owen dearly wanted to say, but he kept quiet.

Courtney continued: "After tonight’s meal I stood up and said that to everyone. I'm not sure Fordy believes me, though. I don't blame him after that stupid shit with Ashy. I know what it looked like earlier, that I had it in for him. And then the crap kicked off with Jonny. I mean, he is weird, but me calling him a weirdo seemed to upset Fordy the most."

"Jonny's been a bloody good friend to him …"

Courtney picked up on the unspoken accusation. "And the only people to have been cunts are Billy, Ashy and me …"

"Yep." Owen couldn't be arsed to play nice.

More silence. Then Courtney said: "Fordy said you really are getting married."

"Yep. It's not a fucking piss-take …"

"I'm not homophobic, honest. I dunno, it's just a weird thing to get your head around …"

"Your problem, mate, not mine." And Owen terminated the call.

***

Owen had not long been back from an afternoon session at the gym when he heard a knock on the front door, and then a key in the lock. They'd exchanged house keys ages back, but Owen couldn't break George of the habit of knocking first. He just had to accept that his partner had certain ways of doing things, and that was that.

They hugged, Owen's arms around George's waist and careful not to press on the bruising. And then they were kissing hungrily, George’s hands cupping Owen’s arse.

“Bed or a cup of tea or both together?”

George rolled his eyes. “I’d kill for a cuppa. And then I’ll check how tidy your bedroom is!”

That was an ongoing joke between them. George’s house was always immaculate. Owen’s tended to look as if a 1.85m two-legged bomb had blasted through it.

“Some people have got no sense of adventure!”

“Oi, I’m only delaying the start of the adventure …”

George dumped his bag at the bottom of the stairs and followed Owen through into the kitchen. He took one look around, sighed dramatically and started to load the dishwasher.

“I was gonna tidy up before you came, honest …”

“Of course you were,” said George, but he was smiling, and leaned across the worktop to kiss Owen.

Owen looked at him consideringly, then burst out laughing at the expression on George’s face. “How do you know what I was thinking?”

“You’ve got a one-track mind, mister! Kitchens are for cooking in …”

“You’re no fun, our kid! I suppose I’ll never persuade you to join the Mile High club the next time we’re on a plane …”

“Too bloody right you won’t! I don’t understand why anyone wants to cop off in a tiny and smelly bog on a plane.”

Owen laughed. George had very particular ideas on what various rooms should be used for - but he was whole-hearted in making full use of the bedroom! Owen still counted it as a win that most days of the holiday they’d done it on cushions next to the swimming pool at the Italian villa once George had satisfied himself that they weren’t overlooked.

They took the mugs of tea through into the living room. George set his mug down, then winced as he sat back too hard on the sofa.

"Show me," said Owen, deciding not to mention for the time being that JJ had sent him the photo.

George hesitated, then pulled up his teeshirt. Owen swore creatively and went to raid the freezer for ice packs - an essential part of a rugby player's supplies.

When he came back, George had taken his teeshirt off and was lying facedown on the sofa. Owen applied the packs as best he could and then perched beside George, letting his fingers drift across the taut muscles and smooth skin. 

"He phoned me the other night," he said.

"Who, Courtney?"

"Yeah. He just wanted to bleat about how he didn't do it on purpose and that he's not homophobic, but he can't get his head around us getting hitched. I hung up on the fucker in the end."

"He did this 'poor me, I'm misunderstood' act after dinner the other night. There was an apology in there somewhere, but it was fucking hard to find."

"He said he had. Did he apologise to Jonny?"

"Not as far as I know."

"Worth mentioning that to Eddie …"

"Yeah, maybe." George sounded lethargic and Owen wasn't sure whether he was exhausted after an intense training camp, or tired of dealing with homophobic shit.

"Eddie's on our side. He sent Ashton home when he could just as easily have given him a warning.”

"I know …"

"Look, you would say if you've changed your mind about the BBC interview, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would. And I haven't. Something’s bothering you, though …”

“I dunno really. Just that I don’t want it to look like we’re baiting Billy and Mako …”

There was a spark of anger in George’s expressive blue eyes. “It’s not about them. It’s about the sport being inclusive and the fact it shouldn’t matter what we do in bed. And it’s for the scared kids out there who need us to speak out for them and to keep speaking out so that we drown out the fuckwits like Folau.”

Owen entwined their fingers and kissed George’s palm. George’s outburst was him in a nutshell – he’d never backed down from a tackle or a challenge in his life. “I know …”

“If you’ve got any doubts, we won’t do it.”

“But you want to do it, don’t you?”

George nodded. The irony wasn’t lost on Owen, given they both usually found media interviews a slog. “Yeah, I do. The Folau shit will drag on and on, so we need to stay visible, especially with the World Cup approaching. But we either both do it or we say no.”

Owen was silent for a minute or so, his fingers tracing across George’s cheekbones. Then he said: “You’re right. We’ll do it.”

***

They'd got the go-ahead to do the interview on the condition that an England Rugby media officer sat in on it. Owen wasn't overjoyed at this, but had learned to pick his battles when it came to dealing with the media team. George had simply shrugged and accepted the condition. Owen had asked for it to be Fran Thomas as he knew her brother was gay - she'd told him this after giving him a rib-crunching hug on hearing the news about him and George.

They met the BBC journalist at the Saracens training ground on Friday morning. Niamh Donnelly was a rugby writer who they both knew fairly well and trusted inasmuch as they trusted any reporter. With her was a young cameraman called Nathan. Fran and Niamh knew each other from local newspaper days, and Owen was pretty certain that Fran would only step in if the interview looked like going seriously off-track.

“Congrats on the engagement,” said Niamh cheerfully, setting drinks down in front of them.

“Thanks.” Owen was aware that he sounded abrupt, so tried to soften it with a smile.

“Your photo’s still going through the roof with Instagram likes. And I notice people are still trolling Folau with it.”

“Good,” said George sharply.

“You see he kicked off again the other day, this time about transgender kids?”

George nodded. “He hasn’t got a fucking clue. Or maybe he has and just doesn’t care …”

Niamh grimaced. “I think he’s so far into the bible stuff that he just thinks he’s showing people the error of their ways. And did you see he’s now crowdfunding to pay for the legal action?”

“That stinks!” said George vehemently. Fran, who had a soft spot a mile wide for George, touched his arm gently.

Niamh spread her notes out in front of her, then nodded to Nathan, who'd been fiddling around with the camera. “Right, shall we get started? Anything that crops up that you don’t want me to quote, say so clearly. OK?”

They both nodded

“Grand. Let’s kick off with what Folau and Billy said, and how that decided you both to come out.”

***

_Photos of them in action adorn countless rugby-mad kids’ walls. But now England stars Owen Farrell and George Ford have become pin-ups for a different reason – they’re the only openly gay players in world rugby and are planning to get married next year._

_They’re both serious, polite young men, clearly devoted to each other and their sport. England captain Farrell in particular is surprisingly quietly spoken and nothing like his aggressive, loud on-field persona. Just three months ago, in response to homophobic comments from Australian star Israel Folau and England No 8 Billy Vunipola, they chose Instagram to announce to the world that they’re together._

_Ford says: “We’d rather not have our private life splashed all over the media, but we came out for a bloody good reason. Folau had past form and he can’t say that Rugby Australia didn’t warn him the first time. Every player I know is supposed to take full responsibility on using social media wisely. As far as Billy’s concerned, he knows he’s upset people, but he believes what he believes. So Owen and I think it’s vital for us to be visible so that gay youngsters can see they’re not alone. We’re in a position of strength, particularly with Owen being England captain, and we’re going to use it. What Folau has done is to make it virtually impossible for any Aussie player to come out. And it sends out an appalling message to young gay kids coming up through the ranks both there and world-wide.”_

_The usually reserved Ford shows his anger, though, at the fact Folau has launched a crowdfunding appeal to fund his legal action against Rugby Australia._

_“I thought that was a disgusting move. Crowdfunding like that should be for sick kids and other charities, not for someone who has made every decision consciously and knows the implications of what he’s said and done. And the guy’s got a multi-million dollar property portfolio.”_

_An Instagram photo after Folau’s online outburst showed Saracens star Farrell, 27, pointing to his ring finger and asking Ford to marry him._

_“Some people seem to think we’re joking about getting married, but we’re not. Why should we joke about something like that? If you love someone, you want to marry them and spend your life with them. And we’re going to do it next summer,” says 26-year-old Leicester fly-half Ford._

_The pair celebrated their engagement when they were on holiday in Italy during June. Another Instagram photo shows them with their hands linked and wearing matching rings.They now hold up their left hands to show off the rings._

_“There have been negative comments, of course there have. But they’ve been considerably outweighed by people being supportive,” says Ford. “People we don’t know from all over the world have sent us lovely comments via social media and also through the post. We’ve really appreciated people taking the time to do that.”_

_Farrell nods. “Of course we knew that we’d get a hard time from some quarters, but the number of people who’ve supported us and stood up for us has been amazing. We’ve really found out who our true friends are. Our parents knew from the start, and then we told Eddie Jones when George became part of the full England squad in 2014. Apart from them, we also told two of my Saracens teammates and two of George’s at Leicester.”_

_Their fathers are rugby league royalty, now firm fixtures in union. How did they react? Ford half-smiles. “People seem to think our dads are northern neanderthals who’d be horrified at having gay sons. Both of them have been incredibly supportive. They’re far more interested in our place-kicking and defensive play than what we do in our private lives!”_

_Farrell and Ford are childhood friends and grew even closer during England age group tours, including the junior World Cup final in 2011. “We first met when we were 13 or 14 and playing junior rugby league in Lancashire. Then my family moved south when my dad signed for Saracens, and we lived opposite George and his family for a while, as his dad was coaching at the club. We were at the same school for a while as well,” says Farrell._

_“We really grew close when we played at the various England age group levels and roomed together. Nothing happened, though, until we were both over the age of consent. We knew it wouldn’t be easy on all manner of levels, but we were – and are – committed to making our relationship work.”_

_Farrell shrugs at the question asking what sort of reception he’s expecting from other players at the World Cup. “A lot of messages of support have come from other international players. There are bound to be homophobic idiots out there, but we have to rely on referees clamping down on any crap. And we’re both used to taking care of ourselves on rugby pitches.”_

_Was last season’s incident in the Murrayfield tunnel homophobic when Ford was pushed around and verbally abused by Scottish No 8 Ryan Wilson? Farrell shakes his head. “Wilson was being an arsehole and shoving George around and trying to wind him up. He was just picking on the smallest lad in the England team who’s 20cm shorter than him.”_

_Ironically, the referee that day was the openly gay Nigel Owens. “Nigel and Gareth Thomas have both done so much for the game and are both awesome role models,” says Farrell. “The way they’ve been accepted goes a long way to showing that rugby is a tolerant sport. And our recent experience has shown us that England Rugby and World Rugby in particular are committed to ensuring the sport genuinely is inclusive. There are great allies around like James Haskell, Joe Marler and Ben Cohen._

_“It shouldn’t matter in the least what we do in our private lives, but while there are bigots like Folau around, it clearly is an issue. We want to help make sure that the next time a player comes out, no one cares.”_

***

It was weird watching themselves being interviewed in a context that wasn’t just rugby. In many ways George dominated it, his tone matter-of-fact, but the passion in his eyes unmistakable. The broadcast interview, part of a series of Pride features across the BBC, and entitled ‘The pride of English rugby’, was edited down to half an hour and ran at 7.30pm on BBC1 on Friday night. Clips from it had been shown on the BBC1 6pm news bulletin and every hour on BBC News 24, and it was then second lead after Donald Trump on the 10pm news. The written version of the interview went up on the BBC website at 8pm and within minutes was all over social media.

The question that they had the most trouble with was over Pride. They knew what it was, of course, but they struggled to explain why it had never even occurred to them to go. Eventually George got closest - and it was the final quote used in the TV interview. “I know it’ll sound odd, but we’re probably two of the most boring blokes on the planet! All we’ve ever focussed on is rugby from the age of about seven. We both made our professional debuts when we were 16 and 17 when other kids were out clubbing with their mates. Rugby is pretty much all we ever talk about. And it’s probably not much of a pick-up line! What matters is that whether you want to go to Pride or to play rugby, you should be free to be yourself.”


End file.
